


i know that (you and me) and everything will be alright

by littledeaths



Category: I.O.I (Band), Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Angst, But no actual deaths, F/M, Friendship, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Mentions of Death, Non-Graphic Violence, but alas, the 2park is onesided... kind of, this was supposed to be light and funny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 11:35:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12983214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littledeaths/pseuds/littledeaths
Summary: They say that the pillar of any good pair of drift compatible co-pilots is trust. But when Woojin turns his head to look at Jihoon, Jihoon refuses to meet his eye.Minhyun breaks the silence once more, only to say: “Neural handshake, strong and holding.”Pacific Rim AU





	i know that (you and me) and everything will be alright

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be taekookwink fic but then i said i wanted it to be a nielwink fic and then my draft became 3K words of Woojin-centric semi-2park self-discovery fic so i went with it pls help
> 
> things to note:  
> 1\. i took a lot of liberties with the au, so not everything fits in with canon (busan shatterdome doesn't exist, aside from nova hyperion the two jaegers don't exist, etc).
> 
> 2\. i cant for the life of me think of good jaeger names and triptych cypher was from another pac rim au so credits to them and forgive me. hit me up if you have any better names for jaegers.
> 
> 3\. although nielwink is the "main" ship in this fic, it doesn't take much of the spotlight. i feel like there's more chunghong and taekook actually.

“Again!” Chungha’s voice rings throughout the Kwoon room clearly.

“Are you shitting me?” Woojin manages to spit out in between heavy breaths.

“Park Woojin--language!”

“Noona~” Jihoon whines, turning up all the aegyo he can muster. “We’ve been at this for hours! What have we been doing wrong?”

Jihoon was right. They’ve been training in the Kwoon room for almost four hours and counting now, and Woojin was starting to lose feeling in his arms from fighting with the Kendo sticks for so long. He hesitantly looks up at their fightmaster and winces as he meets the harsh look in her eyes.

Kim Chungha was the definition of small but terrible. She couldn’t be any taller than 5’2” but she struck fear in just about all of the ranger hopefuls that the Busan shatterdome housed. She was one of the toughest fighters the Academy had, fighting with a style like dancing but very quickly had realized her weakness with drift compatibility. She had opted to become a fightmaster instead and soon became one of the best ones in the PPDC (much to Woojin and Jihoon’s dismay).

Standing at the head of the room, she lifts a perfectly manicured eyebrow at the two of them before speaking, “If you two weren’t so quick to whine and focused more on training, you’d both realize that you’re wasting time and movement. All of which can translate into life or death when you’re in a jaeger.”

Jihoon and Woojin both look down nervously and get back into position.

“Again.”

 

 

 

 

 

When he and Jihoon were called down to transfer to the Busan shatterdome, Woojin thought that it was finally their time to shine. After working themselves to the bone to become the top candidates to become _actual_ Jaeger pilots, he really thought that he could leave behind all the lame history lessons, kwoon room training, and especially the shitty meals in fucking Alaska. 

He was wrong.

On top of meals so bad that they could rival the shitty meals from the academy, he and Jihoon were still subjected to endless hours of officer training and even more hours in the Kwoon room. By now Woojin could complete all fifty-two Bushido positions in his sleep--how’s that for unconscious mastery?

He honestly tries not to be a little bitch about it. He knows it’s a huge honor and accomplishment to have gotten to this point. Most ranger-hopefuls don’t even make it past officer training, much more get recruited immediately after passing Jaeger training. So, he grins and bares it.

The minute Chungha sets them free from the Kwoon room Woojin and Jihoon immediately rush off to dinner, wanting nothing more than to fill their stomachs and finally get to bed, only to wake up in a few hours to do everything all over again.

It was exciting being the new kids, and everything about the Busan shatterdome leaves them speechless. It was built to aid the ones already existing in Hong Kong and Osaka, and pretty much boasts of the best Jaeger tech among all nine shatterdomes despite being the smallest.

Getting used to a brand new environment filled with a bunch of new people was exciting too. The Busan shatterdome was commandeered by the youngest marshall in the PPDC, Kim Namjoon. And wherever Kim Namjoon is, his star team is never too far away.

The names Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jungkook elicit awe wherever they are uttered. The two are the youngest and most accomplished Korean jaeger pilots since Bang So Yee and Ahn Yuna. They piloted a Mark-III Jaeger named Triptych Cypher, previously piloted by the marshall himself, Kim Namjoon and his then-partner Min Yoongi.

They’ve been here almost two weeks now but every time they manage to catch either Taehyung or Jungkook at the mess hall, Jihoon becomes a fumbling idot. Woojin of all people gets it (seeing as he steps into Jihoon’s mind at least once a week during Pons training) but the novelty of meeting the country’s best jaeger pilots starts to wear off after seeing either Taehyung or Jungkook shoving peas down the back of each other’s jumpers at lunch one too many times.

“You know you should stop staring, right?” Woojin says flicking a bite of flaky chicken at Jihoon’s head, “You look like a creep.”

Jihoon averts his eyes from the table where the Actual Jaeger Pilots sit and makes a face at Woojin, “I do not.”

Woojin snorts at that and continues to pick at his food, “I get that Taehyung sunbae is your idol and everything, but I swear, he totally knows you’re staring.”

Jihoon is brushing off the strands of overcooked poultry from his hair and blushes, looking down at his plate of very sad looking dinner, mumbling under his breath about how Woojin would never understand.

Woojin understood perfectly well. Though they were just a few years older than Jihoon and himself, Taehyung and Jungkook have successfully protected the Korean peninsula for three years, and were pretty much the whole reason Jihoon wanted to even become a ranger so bad.

They’re pulled out from their thoughts when they hear their names being called, “Jihoon, Woojin!”

By the way Jihoon’s already very big eyes double in size it could only mean one thing. Kim Taehyung makes his way towards their table with Jungkook trailing behind him. He straddles the bench and faces Jihoon, who has turned a pretty shade of pink. Jungkook stands behind Taehyung, a hand shoved into the pocket of his jumper and another resting reassuringly on Taehyung’s shoulder.

“We saw you two in the Kwoon room with Chungha today,” Taehyung starts excitedly, bouncing a little in his seat.

“Ahh, hyung we were so embarrassing!” Jihoon wines with a little smile on his face. He’s turned an even more alarming shade of pink and Woojin is lowkey worried he isn’t breathing.

“No, no you two are really good!” Jungkook offers to Woojin, who sends a grateful smile to his senior in return for the compliment.

“Yeah, totally!” Taehyung agrees, “But just a little tip! Chungha hates dragging stuff out, no matter how well you guys are sparring, right Kook?”

Jungkook nods, “Noona thinks it's better to end a battle quickly because it proves to her how well you can predict each other’s next moves.”

That’s the whole point of combat training, really. More than just training your body to fight and to practice to become better at combat, it's to strengthen and test the bond between drift compatible rangers. The ability to know and correctly predict a person’s next move, how they fight, how they think in crucial moments in just mere seconds--that’s what Chungha must have been wanting from him and Jihoon.

Woojin realizes he’s zoned out when he sees Taehyung and Jungkook beaming brightly at Jihoon, who nods so enthusiastically at whatever they’re saying, looking like a dog ready to be pat on the head.

Even when Jungkook and Taehyung have gotten up and headed out of the mess hall, the beaming smile on Jihoon’s face doesn’t budge even the slightest. 

“You’re a mess,” Woojin laughs.

 

 

 

 

 

Woojin and Jihoon were brought to Busan to be trained even further to become pilots of a new Mark-V jaeger, Twilight Sparrow, which at the time of their arrival was just close to being completely finished. But they’ve been in Busan for a full month now, and the closest they’ve gotten to their supposed new Jaeger were the blueprints. It was annoying to say the least. It almost feels like being led on, and it doesn’t help that combat training with Chungha wasn’t getting better.

“How is it that you two are getting worse and not better?” She says, tone exasperated.

He and Jihoon have gotten used to their fightmaster being harsh and demanding, but today it seemed like Chungha was downright disappointed in them. It made Woojin disappointed in himself as well.

Woojin looks over to his partner, lying useless on the mat, panting hard, each heavy breath lifting his chest off the ground.

“How are our newest babies doing today?” A loud voice sing-songs into the kwoon room.

The look on Chungha’s face is what Woojin can only describe as loving annoyance. The way her unpleasant grimace slowly twitches into a wide smile meant only one thing.

Ong Seongwoo strides into the Kwoon room with an attitude and confidence that has become a signature for him and his co-pilot, Kang Daniel. The two have become household names after debuting as the only pilots in South Korea to pilot a Mark-V jaeger.

For a few years Nova Hyperion and Triptych Cypher were the only South Korean piloted jaegers. After the death of Bang So-Yee and Ahn Yuna, the whole nation was in mourning, both for the loss of the iconic jaeger and it's two amazing pilots.

That is until Nation Shaker was completed.

Nation Shaker is, to date, the biggest and fastest Jaeger in the program. The hulking machine was a brawler that moved both on land and water like a mad dog, thanks to its two hyperactive co-pilots. Ever since their debut as jaeger pilots, Ong Seongwoo and Kang Daniel have been on the cover of newspapers and magazines, and pretty much the object of just about every teenage girl’s fantasies.

They were a national phenomenon that could be likened to idols, with looks to match. And as much as Woojin wants to credit their fame to something as shallow as their good looks and smooth talking, he can’t. With Nation Shaker added to the roster of active jaegers, Triptych Cypher had been sent off to different shatterdomes to protect other coasts along the pacific rim. That left Nation Shaker as the Korean Peninsula’s first and last line of defense and the two pilots didn’t disappoint. They’ve successfully protected the peninsula with nine credited kills.

Jihoon rushes to stand up as he realizes who has just come into the room. He and Woojin bow to their seniors in a rush, ignoring the burning in their thighs.

“Ong Seongwoo, Kang Daniel. What did I tell you two about coming into the Kwoon room in the middle of another pair’s training time?” Chungha folds her arms over her chest and directs her signature eyebrow lift at the two.

Kang Daniel, in all of broad shouldered, long legged glory, shrinks under her scrutiny before pointing at Seongwoo saying, “His idea!”

Daniel laughs as Seongwoo tries to hide the smile on his face. “Marshall sent us to check in on them, I swear!”

 _Lie_ , Woojin thinks. But he’s met Seongwoo and Daniel before, and unlike Taehyung and Jungkook, they were a little easier to be around. It’s mostly due to the fact that Jihoon could breathe like a normal person when he was around these hyungs and didn’t turn into a dangerous shade of cherry red around them.

Chungha lets it slide and her boyfriend jovially wraps his arms around her in a back hug and rests his head on top of hers. The strict look on her eyes melts away as they turn into crescents, her lips upturning into a large smile. This is a common occurrence, even when Chungha says it's a bother as soon as Seongwoo and Daniel leave. Neither he nor Jihoon complain. The two older rangers are a welcome distraction, especially on fourteen-hour combat training days.

While Seongwoo and Chungha speak in hushed voices in one corner of the Kwoon room, Daniel entertains the two of them in the meantime, making gagging noises and doing a bad imitation of Seongwoo professing his love to Chungha. Woojin likes this hyung a lot, finds him funny and entertaining. It also helps that the two are Busan natives, instantly finding that connection as soon as Daniel drops his “more professional” Seoul accent.

He laughs freely as he watches Jihoon and Daniel sparring, taking a break after receiving the beating of his life just minutes prior. _The way actual jaeger pilots fight really is different_ , he acknowledges, and keeps in mind for when he and Jihoon start back up again in a little while.

Jihoon and Daniel spar quite well, Woojin notes. Despite Daniel’s build looking almost twice the size of Jihoon’s, his partner keeps up with Daniel easily. He manages to dodge swiftly, strike fiercely, and most impressive of all, he can tell exactly what Daniel is going to do next. If Woojin didn’t know any better, he’d think they’d be perfectly drift compatible if they fought this well.

“This! This is the exact kind of sparring I want to see!” Chungha cheers, pushing past Sungwoo to get a closer look at Daniel and Jihoon at the center of the Kwoon room. 

There are grins on both Daniel and Jihoon’s faces as they continue sparring, keeping count of their scores, laughing in between near-deadly strikes.

Seongwoo watches with a pleased smile while Woojin is pretty much just an awkward by-stander as he watches the two in the center of the room.

Chungha’s eyes are ablaze with excitement, “That’s how real pilots spar.”

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been a few days since that afternoon in the kwoon room, but Woojin can’t seem to shake off what Chungha said.

_That’s how real pilots spar._

He isn’t sure what it is about it that sets him on the edge. Absolutely no one could take his place as Jihoon’s co-pilot, unless he suddenly kicked the bucket. They have close to ten years of friendship in their pockets, months of cadet training, and the solid proof that they’re drift compatible. He really has nothing to worry about if that’s the case. But there’s a pressure mounting in his chest that he can’t put a real name to. Maybe it’s anxiety. About becoming real jaeger pilots, taking charge of a real machine that stood in between thousands of lives and the great, deadly unknown that was a kaiju.

 _That must be it,_ Woojin ponders. Laying in his bunk, all alone in his and Jihoon’s shared quarters gives him time to think about this without having to worry Jihoon. It’s his futile attempt at trying not to worry his co-pilot, though as soon as they go for Pons training Jihoon will know exactly what’s been floating around in Woojin’s head. But that’s the beauty of the Drift, Woojin supposes, that there’s never any fear of any of his thoughts or memories disappointing, scaring, or hurting Jihoon. Only understanding.

Looking around their scarcely decorated quarters makes Woojin feel a little uneasy, having been joined at the hip with Jihoon since their arrival. This free morning of theirs was a rare occasion, only happening once a week so before pons training. Stepping into someone’s head, even just for a few minutes, took a toll on even the strongest of people. So free mornings were often awarded to them before they were beaten to a pulp from the inside out by simulated kaiju. But laying around in bed has never really been Woojin’s style and he easily drops down from the top bunk and heads out.

He nods and bows slightly at the officials and staff he meets on the way to the mess hall. If there’s anywhere Jihoon would be during free time it would be stuffing his face. Even if the food was shit, the Busan shatterdome’s mess hall had its good days (but these were far and few in between as far as he could tell). When he rounds the corner and peers into the entrance of the hall, he’s surprised to see that it was nearly empty, save for a few ground staff killing time and the supreme team, Taehyung and Jungkook, tossing grapes at each other and catching them in their mouths.

Before he can make his hasty escape, Taehyung catches sight of him from over Jungkook’s shoulder and calls out to him.

“Woojin!” Taehyung’s eyes are bright with mirth and Jungkook looks behind him with a big smile, motioning for Woojin to come over.

Unable to say no his hyungs, he makes his over to the two with a small, shy smile. He sits across from them and greets them politely.

For one of the most acclaimed and successful jaeger co-pilot teams, Woojin thinks they have some sort of easy going demeanor that he can’t quite decipher. They looked like normal dudes and not some sort of national heroes who readily lay their lives on the line to fight giant sea creatures for a living. They smiled at each other with a comfort and ease that he recognized and felt with Jihoon but there was something extra between these two. He knew they were in love, or at the very least dating. It was no secret, especially when neither of them can keep their hands off of each other nor could they stop sending each other these dumb, near-blinding smiles.

“So, are you excited?” Taehyung prods, eyes wide in wonder. He lets go of Jungkook’s hand to press his palms in front of him on the table with a slight bang.

Woojin is confused, but tries to play it cool. “What for?”

Jungkook and Taehyung chuckle a little before Jungkook speaks up, “About your jaeger.”

“Wh-what about it?” Woojin drops the cool act. After a little over a month he’s starting to get jittery, wanting so bad to see this new jaeger, to step into it knowing it was created for him and Jihoon to pilot.

“We heard from LOCCENT that it wouldn’t be long until you and Jihoonie get to test the bad boy out,” Jungkook smirks, twirling a finger in Taehyung’s hair casually, as if he can’t stand to be too far from Taehyung for too long.

“Hyung, you’re not fucking with me, right?” Jungkook and Taehyung laugh at the same time, and Woojin thinks its slightly disgusting how in sync they are for a split second.

“I wouldn’t lie about this, I swear!” Jungkook manages to get out in between laughs, placing a hand over his heart.

“I think we of all people know the excitement of testing out a brand new jaeger,” Taehyung says, reaching out to pinch Woojin’s cheek.

Woojin instinctively swats Taehyungs hand away, the elder’s lips forming a fake pout, “Jihoonie does the exact same thing when I pinch his cheeks.”

“Speaking of Jihoon,” Jungkook starts, “I’m surprised he didn’t tell you earlier!”

“What, you saw him earlier?” Woojin questions. One of his legs is bouncing impatiently under the table, proof that he's just seconds from bolting, but doesn’t want to be rude.

“Yup. I told him when we saw him just after his usual morning run with Niel hyung,” Jungkook hums.

 _Morning run? With Niel hyung?_ Usual? Several thoughts race through Woojin’s head at that moment. Jihoon hated running--it was his least favorite form of exercise and only considered it a necessary evil when warm up laps were needed. So for him to voluntarily go running was strange, much more often enough for it to be a _usual_ thing? That’s just straight up weird.

He must have been too caught up in this thoughts because Taehyung is giving him a curious look then he refocuses on the situation at hand. It's a cross between a smug smirk and a taunt and it makes Woojin a little nervous. 

“Trouble in paradise, Woojinie?”

 

 

 

 

 

After managing to escape from the clutches of Taehyung and Jungkook, Woojin makes it just in time for Pons training. He's panting and out of breath as he makes his grand entrance in the makeshift LOCCENT, throwing the heavy metals doors open with a clang.

“Nice of you to join us, Woojin,” Minhyun greets sarcastically from where he’s securing a Pons headset onto Jihoon who throws him a peace sign and a wink, his tongue sticking out cutely.

“Sorry, got a bit… distracted,” Woojin manages to get out in between pants. He walks over to the seat next to Jihoon’s and gracelessly collapses onto it.

Minhyun clicks his tongue in disapproval but moves on to secure Woojin’s own headset, “Just don’t let those thoughts get in the way of my neaural handshake.”

Woojin diverts his eyes to the floor and avoids eye contact with the professor currently trying to link his brain with his best friend’s. His snaggletooth is busy worrying at his lower lip and his index finger is nervously flicking at a hangnail on his thumb. He’s never been this unsure of himself when stepping into the drift before.

His eyes snap back to focus at the task at hand when Minhyun clears his throat and announces, “I’m ready when you boys are.”

Woojin and Jihoon both close their eyes before taking a deep. Their eyes snap open, focused and serious.

“Ready.”

Woojin clears his mind and only lets Minhyun’s voice through, “Neural handshake initiate--in three, two, one!”

Going into the Drift can’t truly be explained with the usual _feelings_ or _sensations_ one would experience with the basic senses. One doesn’t _feel_ the ability to see how you lost your two front teeth, or saying goodbye to your parents when you leave for the Jaeger pilot academy. You can’t explain what it's like _feel_ the ability to glimpse into how your co-pilot felt after losing a dog, or breaking their mother’s favorite flower vase.

But Woojin is sure he feels a pang in his chest when he sees it, clear as day and impossible to deny. Park Jihoon unable to control the large smile painted onto his face as his eyes focus on intertwined fingers, his and someone else’s. Jihoon’s eyes drift up and meets a look of pure unadulterated fascination and wonder from Kang Daniel. Woojin can feel the panic climbing up his throat and down his spine and fights to clear his mind, but before he can, he sees the press of lips and the sound of laughter.

They say that the pillar of any good pair of drift compatible co-pilots is trust. But when Woojin turns his head to look at Jihoon, Jihoon refuses to meet his eye.

Minhyun breaks the silence once more, only to say: “Neural handshake, strong and holding.”

**Author's Note:**

> YELLS
> 
> i haven't posted anything on here in nearly two years so be gentle. sorry for the overload of pac rim terminology, i totally recommend watching the film--its great.
> 
> pls do let me know what you think and come and yell at me on twitter (@busanpeaches_)


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